"There are so many dead people inside!" Qin Mubai pointed at the city gate.
Bai Ran strode towards the city gate. "Keep up, let's go in and see."
The three entered the city.
Barren, desolate, a scene of death. A cold wind blew, carrying the stench of rotten decay.
On the streets, mountains of corpses were piled everywhere. Flies buzzed in the air, and the rotting bodies were gnawed by rats and insects, leaving only skeletons.
"Sister Bai! Isn't that!" Fang Tianhui shouted, pointing at a corpse not far away.
Bai Ran looked in the direction she pointed and saw the corpse of the leading man!
His face was unrecognizable, but his outline was still vaguely discernible.
Qin Mubai's skin crawled. "Are we seeing ghosts...?"
Bai Ran's beautiful eyes were somewhat solemn.
Those refugees were likely all dead, but their souls refused to depart, which was why they encountered them.
Logically, ordinary humans couldn't see ghosts, but why could these two?
"Let's look for an inn that's open first," Bai Ran said.
The two nodded and circled the entire street, finally finding a small inn in a secluded alley.
"This inn seems to be open," Qin Mubai said, looking at the sign hanging at the door.
He knocked. "Anyone alive? We need a room!"
After a long time, there was no response.
"Are you not polite enough?" Fang Tianhui stepped forward and knocked gently.
"Excuse me, we're here to stay! If anyone's inside, please open the door!"
Time ticked by, still no response.
"It seems you're not polite either," Qin Mubai said with a wicked grin, only to receive a glare from Fang Tianhui.
Bai Ran released her spiritual power and clearly sensed a living presence inside.
"Move aside."
Qin Mubai and Fang Tianhui complied obediently, not understanding what Bai Ran intended to do.
Bai Ran kicked the door with a swift motion, and it flew open, sending thick dust swirling into the air.
"Heroine Bai has great skills."
If anyone was to be arrogant, it was Bai Ran. The two couldn't help but want to applaud her.
"No! Don't kill me! I've never resisted!" A thin, sallow man cowered under the table, clutching his head and trembling.
"Do we look like bad guys?" Qin Mubai touched his face. "When I'm so handsome."
Fang Tianhui gave him a disgusted look. "You're really thick-skinned."
Bai Ran approached the man and looked at him. "Are you the innkeeper?"
The man looked up fearfully at the person before him. "You... you're not here to kill me?"
Seeing Bai Ran shake her head, the man's trembling body slowly calmed down.
"Innkeeper, come out and talk. We're really not here to kill you," Qin Mubai said.
Hearing this, the innkeeper suddenly darted out from under the table, startling Qin Mubai, who had just approached.
He hurriedly used a pile of things to block the kicked-open door and then breathed a sigh of relief.
"You must be from another country. I advise you to leave quickly," the innkeeper said with fear in his eyes.
"Why?" Bai Ran found a chair at random and sat down.
"Something major happened in the Xuanwu Kingdom not long ago. The newly enthroned emperor is practicing tyranny, and tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been slaughtered." He spoke tremblingly, his eyes reddening.
"I don't even know how long I can live," the innkeeper lowered his head, his voice trembling.
"Slaughtering civilians for no reason? Has this emperor always been so cruel?" Bai Ran asked.
The innkeeper shook his head like a rattle drum. "No! It's not like that!"
"Before he ascended the throne, he was always a good crown prince who loved his country and his people."
"Until half a year ago, when the crown prince married a woman named Yan Xue, everything changed."
The innkeeper clenched his fists, his eyes filled with anger.
"He first murdered his father to seize power, and then slaughtered the people. We can't believe how he's become like this."
Fang Tianhui frowned deeply. "It seems this woman named Yan Xue is the problem."
"The emperor is blinded by lust and has gone mad, changing his personality. This is quite a dramatic play," Qin Mubai said, waving his hand.
"What about the corpses of the civilians outside?" Bai Ran asked after a moment of thought.
"The emperor specifically ordered them to be placed there as a warning to us not to have any rebellious thoughts."
The innkeeper looked at the blocked door. "If anyone couldn't bear it and wanted to bury them, they would be executed along with them..."
"My wife is also out there... but I'm powerless..." His eyes were filled with loneliness, desolation, and endless grief.
To see his beloved wife executed, her body discarded like garbage at the door, rotting and stinking day by day, and to be unable to even collect her remains – what sorrow this was.
Qin Mubai and Fang Tianhui stood quietly, not saying a word. Just imagining themselves in the innkeeper's position, they felt heartbroken.
Since following Bai Ran, they had witnessed too many partings and too many wicked deeds, but each time they saw it with their own eyes, they were deeply moved and suffocated by sadness.
Bai Ran stood up.
"We'll trouble you, innkeeper. We've decided to stay here for a while."
"You!" The innkeeper sighed. "Alas, forget it. If you want to stay, then stay."
Looking at the innkeeper's expression, Qin Mubai seemed to see their future.
Entering the room, the three sat down.
"Sister Bai, what should we do?" Fang Tianhui asked.
Bai Ran raised her hand and set up a soundproof barrier. "Let's go investigate that woman named Yan Xue."
"But the imperial palace is heavily guarded. We can't get close to her on our own," Qin Mubai wondered.
"If you were a tyrannical emperor, where would you like to take your beloved woman?"
Bai Ran mentioned it casually, and it instantly enlightened the two.
"Right!" Qin Mubai exclaimed excitedly. "The underground arena!"
Neither of them was a good person, and they were naturally interested in the bloody battles. And the most famous in the Xuanwu Kingdom was the underground arena.
"Let me ambush them and capture this dog-and-bitch pair," Qin Mubai said, rolling up his sleeves.
Bai Ran looked at the gloomy sky outside the window. "You're wrong. It's not about capturing them."
The two blinked, a little confused.
She turned her head to look at them, a slight smile curving her lips, looking wicked and unrestrained.
"It's about infiltrating the enemy."
"You need to enter the arena and fight, crush your opponents, and be noticed by them."
Upon hearing this, Qin Mubai seemed stunned.
Fight? Crush opponents? Be noticed by them?
He understood every word, but together, it was like reading a foreign language.
"That's right! We can't alert them!" Fang Tianhui slapped his forehead, his bright eyes shining.
Qin Mubai was full of question marks. Hey, hey, hey! Explain it! What kind of code language are you speaking!